When You Look Me in the Eyes

“Nick, what is it?” Laura questioned him after they had retrieved several room keys from the front desk, and successfully gotten the people in the rooms next to them moved for the time being.

“Ok,” Nick began, glancing around to make sure that they were completely alone, “I have a problem. Miley told the press that her and I have been dating for the past two years and we’re completely in love and all this crap that I can’t believe they’re buying. Apparently every magazine in the country has heard about this stupid little charade that she’s trying to pull and they’re all basically calling me a liar because I’ve always said that we never dated.” The sixteen-year-old boy sighed deeply.

“Oh my gosh Nick, well, what are we going to do about it?” Laura asked.

“’We’?” Nick questioned.

“Yea, I’m gonna help you with this however I can. We need to fix this problem and put Miley in her place,” Laura said.

A look of relief swept across Nick’s face, “Laura, I can’t tell you how much this means to me... Thank you,” he whispered.

“Of course Nick. Now what do you need?” she whispered, sliding closer to him on the bed and running a hand through his soft curls.

Nothing, Nick thought, All I need is you... He shook himself mentally, taking another deep breath before praying a quick prayer that she would agree to his request.

“Ineedyoutopretendtobemygirlfriend,” he said all in one breath.

“Umm... Sorry Nicky, I didn’t catch that. Come again?”

Nick took a deep breath, slowing his racing heartbeat before speaking again, slower this time, “I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend.” Laura’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “Just for a few weeks,” Nick added quickly, “Until this whole thing blows over. Please?”

“Oh, Nicholas, I don’t know honey... I mean all this time that we’ve spent trying to convince the press that we’re not dating... Do you really think this is a good idea?”

“Well, the thing is, if I just go up there and say that Miley’s lying and that we’ve never dated, then she’ll just convince the press that I’m the one that’s lying and that we’re this happy little couple and then mine and my brothers’ credibility and trustworthiness will be called into question. If you pretend to be my girlfriend then you’re like my proof that I’m not dating Miley. Please Laura, I really need you to do this for me,” Nick pleaded.

“What about your brothers and the rest of the band? What about your parents and Big Rob? Will they be in on this, or do we have to pretend in front of them too?”

“Amy said she’s not going to tell the rest of the traveling circus until I tell her it’s ok. Then she’s gonna call Dad and Dad will call either me or Kevin or Joe and whoever Dad calls will tell everyone else. Before any of this happens, we announce ourselves as a couple to Joe, Kevin, Mom, Dad, Frankie and Kendall. That way, when Dad tells the group about Miley’s publicity stunt, Kevin will suggest that we respond to Miley by confirming Naura.”

“Naura?” Laura questioned.

“Nick and Laura. You haven’t heard our celebrity couple name?”

“Not until now. And run that plan by me one more time?”

“Ok,” Nick took a deep breath, “We,” he gestured to Laura and himself, “will tell Joe, Kevin, Kendall, Mom, Dad, Frankie, and your parents that we are dating.”

“We tell them that we’re really dating, or we tell them that we’re fake dating to ward off Miley?” Laura asked, confused.

“We pretend for them that we’re really dating, so in the end, the only people who know that we’re not actually dating is us, because if Kevin and Joe knew, they might accidentally mess it up. I don’t know about Kendall, but I would prefer if you didn’t tell her.”

“Ok,” Laura said, nodding in agreement.

“After we tell them we’re dating, I’ll call Amy and tell her to call my dad and tell him about Miley’s little lie. He’ll call either me, one of my brothers, or Big Rob, and tell us about Miley. Me and you have to pretend like we don’t already know.”

“Ok, I think I get it now. After your dad calls us, someone might suggest that you respond to Miley’s comment by confirming our relationship. How long do we have to pretend that we’re dating?”

“That could be a tough one. It could be a couple of days, weeks, or even months. Either way, I say we should pretend at least a month, to make it look like a convincing, serious relationship,” Nick said.

“You do know we’re gonna have to lie to the press? If we say we just started dating today, then they’ll just say that it doesn’t prove that you haven’t dated Miley before,” Laura pointed out.

“You’re right...” Nick thought for a moment.

After a minute Laura snapped her fingers, “I’ve got it! What if we tell your brothers and Kendall and everyone that we’ve been dating since almost the day we met, but we’ve just really wanted to keep it a secret in case something bad happened and we broke up, so that it wouldn’t be really awkward?!?”

“Laura, you’re brilliant! I love the way you think!” Nick kissed her forehead lightly, and then pulled back, as if remembering something. “What if they ask us to kiss?” he asked worriedly.

“I don’t know... I guess we just have to kiss. And we have to get into the habit of doing couple-type things, which we kind of do a lot anyway. We should hold hands maybe and be more touchy-feely, if you get what I mean.”

“Yea and we should have nicknames for each other too, like pet names,” Nick suggested.

“Ok, go ahead and make a list in your head, or on a piece of paper or something and get into the habit of calling me a few of them and I’ll do the same,” Laura said, grabbing a piece of hotel stationary and beginning to brainstorm.

10 minutes later:

“Ok, whatcha got Mr. President?” Laura asked, testing out one of her chosen nicknames.

“Oh yea, like I haven’t heard that one before,” Nick said sarcastically.

“Shut up and just give me your list,” she said.

“You first Dearest,” Nick said condescendingly.

“Fine Honey-Bear. I’ve got: Nicky, Nicko, JerBear, Honey-Bear, Darling, Hott Stuff, Mr. Jonas, Studmuffin, Mr. President, Hottie, Hott Lips, Hunk, Handsome, Tiger, Stud, Sexy and that’s it,” Laura said, glancing down at her list.

“I like those last three,” Nick said, smiling mischievously.

“Ok, I’ll totally start calling you Sexy, because it kind of fits,” Laura laughed.

“Damn straight,” he said gruffly, grabbing her hips and pulling her body flush to his. “Kiss me,” he whispered.

“Why should I?” Laura giggled.

“Because we need to practice,” Nick said, right before taking her lips in a slow kiss.

After a minute of kissing Nick, the awkwardness began to dissipate and Laura began to feel more comfortable with the situation, wrapping her arms around Nicholas’ neck. She felt his tongue brush against her bottom lip, asking permission like the gentleman he was. Laura pulled back, breathing deeply. She was absolutely ecstatic about the fake dating thing, because it basically meant that she could kiss Nick whenever she wanted, but there still had to be boundaries; they didn’t want a repeat of what happened on the tour bus this morning.

“I’m sorry Nick, I’m just not used to it yet,” Laura said, sliding closer to him and resting her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap, stroking her hair gently.

“It’s fine, we’ll be ok, don’t worry Baby,” he whispered.

“Is that one of yours?” Laura asked.

“What?” Nick said, slightly confused.

“Is that one of your nicknames?” Laura pulled back so that she could look at him, “’Baby’? ‘Cause that’s kind of unoriginal, no offense.”

“Hmm, well I wonder where you got Mr. President from?” Nick said sarcastically.

“Well, give me some other nicknames, what else you got Hott Stuff?”

“Ok, let’s see... Baby?”

“I told you, it’s unoriginal.”

“Cupcake?” Laura showed her approval by nodding. “Doll-Face?” Another nod. “Sugarplum?”

“Nicholas, you’re not on Broadway anymore and we’re not doing the Nutcracker Suite,” Laura said sternly; Nick looked sad for a moment. “But I like it anyway Sweetheart.” His gloomy face brightened when she kissed him on the cheek. “I think we could be good at this pretend boyfriend-girlfriend thing,” Laura whispered, the tip of her nose barely brushing his cheek.

“Yea, I’m with you on that Lauralicious,” Nick emphasized the last word by squeezing her gently. He brought his lips down to meet hers in a gentle kiss.

Again, Laura was the first to pull away, missing the look of frustration in Nick’s eyes. “Anything else Hott Lips?”

Nick grinned. “Sunshine, Buttercup, Angel, Cinderella, Kitten, Adorable, Pooh Bear, Sugar, Honey, Sweetness, Tinkerbell, Luscious, Gumdrop, Lovebug, Princess, Sweetie, Gorgeous, Precious, Love, Peaches, and Beautiful,” he rattled off, paying so much attention to the piece of paper in his hand that he didn’t see the look Laura was giving him until right before she pounced, smothering him with kisses. She saved his lips for last, opening her mouth without any hesitation and allowing Nick to explore to his hearts content.

“Well,” Nick said when he finally pulled away, “What was that for?”

“Almost every name on your list has something to do with our friendship and there’s a story behind practically all of them and Nick, you are quite possibly the most amazing person I’ve ever met. Thank you so much,” she whispered, kissing him softly.

“We’re really getting good at this,” he said, kissing her back, “And you’re very welcome.”

Nick pushed Laura back against the pillows at the top of the bed, pressing his lips to her with more fire than before. He kneeled over her, holding her face gently between his hands. Nick was surprised to feel her tongue flick out over his bottom lip. Excited that she was eager to go further, he carefully rested his hands on the mattress to support most of his weight as he gently rested his body on top of her.

Laura’s fingers tangled in Nick’s curls as she kissed him deeply. She felt his tongue caress her own and moaned into the kiss, opening her mouth wider in the process. Nick let out a groan of his own as Laura’s hips shifted beneath his, increasing the friction ten-fold. The two teenagers were so lost in each other that they didn’t hear the lock click or the door open.

“Oh God, not again,” Joe said, glancing at Kevin and Kendall over his shoulder.

Nick jumped and pulled away from Laura, and then gave her a slight nod, telling her it was time...